Gaited horses are horse breeds that have natural gaited tendencies, that is, the ability to perform one of the smooth to ride, intermediate speed four-beat horse gaits, collectively referred to as ambling gaits.
Such breeds include the following:
- American Saddlebred
- Campolina
- Icelandic horse
- Mangalarga Marchador
- Missouri Foxtrotter
- Paso Fino
- Peruvian Paso
- Racking horse
- Rocky Mountain Horse
- Spotted Saddle horse
- Tennessee Walker
- Walkaloosa
- Marwari horse
In most "gaited" breeds, an ambling gait is a hereditary trait. However, some representatives of these breeds may not always gait. Many horses can both trot and amble, and some naturally trotting horses of other breeds not listed above may have ambling or "gaited" ability, particularly with specialized training. Some horses Pace in addition to the amble, instead of trotting. However, pacing in gaited horses is generally discouraged. A few horses do not naturally trot or pace easily, they prefer their ambling gait for their standard intermediate speed.
See also
- Horse gait, overview of all horse gaits
- Ambling, specifically describes various four beat intermediate gaits performed by gaited breeds
- List of horse breeds
References
"Breeds that Gait." Equus, issue 359, August, 2007, pp. 52-54
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